Never Regret
by Scenro
Summary: A single parent is a hard thing to come by, especially when your love was taken away in a horrible accident. This is a story of Edward Elric, single parent to a dauughter and their stories and struggles together. Please enjoy and R&R. ! !
1. Chapter 1

_**:Epilouge:**_

"_Please!! Don't leave me!! Don't let them take me!!"_

The woman cried aloud. She watched he husband struggle towards her as she pleaded for him to come to her aid. He fought as quickly and fiercely as he could to reach her. He vowed to let nothing happen to her. He had promised that, and yet it seemed almost impossible.

_Why had he listened to them? Why did he let himself fall into such a mess?_

Thoughts came at him from every direction until he finally reached her. He punched one of them who tried to hold him back causing him to let him go. He was pleased that the one who tried to hold him back did not rise back to his feet. Grasping her hand he managed to pull her towards him. As he did so his heart sank as he saw that she would not budge.

Tears streamed from her eyes from both the pain that held her back and the pain that over came her as she watched her husbands fighting and horrified expression. She knew she would not last much longer.

A movement against her chest reminded her of an infant daughter's presence. Looking down she uncovered the blankets that covered the child's face. The child was quite as she stared up at her mother. Her golden eyes gleaming and identical to her father's were bright with life.

Closing her eyes knowing her time was limited she grasped the child in an embrace. She wanted her to live on. Pulling the child from her chest she lifted her towards her husband who continued reaching for her.

"Take care of her alright?" She said. With that she lay the baby in his outreached arms delicately and let her self sink into the darkness who had been consuming her.

"No! Wait! NO!" he screamed aloud. Feeling the child in his arms he pulled her towards him and held her close only to continue to try and reach his wife, but it was to late. She was gone and his mind finally told him that. He didn't even get to tell her a proper goodbye.

The light around him suddenly dimmed. The child began to cry. He looked down into the child's golden eyes, identical to his. The child's cry grew louder and yet the child's reaction in his arms was blank as she only starred back at him. It was as if the sound came from nothing in particularly. Finally after a moment she cried.

He held her closer to him feeling the warmth of her small body and shiver from the sobs.

"Shh…it's alright. Your safe… I'm here, Edward's here…Daddy's here." His voice finally trailed off and he completely broke down into sobs. He joined the child's stream of tears and mourning for his love that was taken away from him. He only wondered if he had any regrets, but to no avail his mind did not function properly as he yearned for his loss.

…………………………………………………………………………….

**Chapter One: Like Father like Daughter**

_Disclaimer_: yadda, yaffa, I do not own Fullemtal Alchemist, but I still own these stories and my ideas with them. So no copyrighting. Got it? Ask permission first, please.

(A/N: I didn't do much research for this fanfiction, so sorry if it may seem a little rusty, but you could always imagine different things. Anyway please take consideration in answering a few of my questions at the very end. Thank you.)

Edward woke up with a start, panting and sweating. That dream haunted him every night, and every night he would wake up at the same time. Rubbing his face he found that he had tears. He rubbed them away quickly hating to show weakness, even if he knew that no one was around. But this time he was wrong; someone was around.

A child of about four years of age stood at his doorway watching him with he bright golden eyes. Her hand was rested on the doorknob as if she had just walked in.

"Daddy…" she spoke quietly and seemed to focus on looking at nothing. It was to dark to see in the room, and he assumed that she did not see him return her gaze until she spoke again.

"Daddy… are you crying?" Her small voice surprised him and he couldn't help but smile. He shook his head riding his mind of its blur and sat up on his bed. Letting his feet touch the ground, he rested for a moment before deciding to stand up. The child walked into the room and closer to him as he eyes finally focused on him and starred.

Finally after Edward believed he gained back his composure, he looked down at the child.

"Daddy's fine honey. H-He... He just had a bad dream." He hesitated while he talked and watched as the little girl crawled up onto his bed. She sat next to him and looked up at him. He smiled at her knowing the look that she gave him. It was one of those. 'You're not telling me everything' looks. He knew that she wanted to know but he could not bring himself to say anything to her. Instead he stood up stretching and glanced at the clock. It said 5:10am. The same time it always did when he woke from that same dream. It always seemed that it was impossible for him to ever get a good night's rest.

The child jumped down mimicking her father in his routine of stretching than quickly ran to him as he walked out the door. She than jumped at his feet giving the sign that she wanted to be picked up. Edward did as she requested and picked her up. He than walked through the halls careful of the darkness and than into the kitchen. The feeling of the hard wooden floor scrapped at his feet, although he could only feel it on one foot, before he finally entered the kitchen.

It was now time for him to get up and get ready for work, so he might as well stay awake. He turned on the stove causing a coffee pot to suddenly come to life. Setting his daughter down she walked eagerly to a chair at the kitchen table, and he eagerly walked towards the fridge where he rummaged. His rummaging didn't have much luck though as his fridge was barely empty, but he could find a decent meal in the few provisions he had. Taking out a quart of orange juice, he set it in the table and turned back to continue his search.

The child watched him noting that every time he turned back he would not even glance at the milk; something that she had found was her favorite. Standing up, she wobbled on her small legs towards him and lifted the quart of milk off of the fridge door and placed it on the counter. With that she gleefully sat at the table waiting for her father's reaction.

Edward turned around, finally with an egg in one hand and a slice of bread in the other. He frowned upon seeing the milk and glanced at his daughter, but his frown faltered and he could not help but smile as she looked at him with bright innocent eyes. It seemed as if she tried to trick him in thinking that he brought the, what he thought vile, substance out. Placing the egg and bread on the counter delicately, he walked to her ruffling her hair playfully. She smiled and laughed as he did so.

"Are you hungry?"

She nodded in response and jumped from the chair she sat, only to run towards the cupboard, taking a box of cereal out. The box looked clearly bigger than he and he could not help but grin. Helping her he lifted the box onto the counter and readied a bowel for her. As he did he grimaced as he touched the pint of milk that she insisted him to drink himself every once in a while. Unexpectedly the child came up behind him and hugged him. She was barely taller than his knees and mumbled in a little voice.

"Thank you Daddy." She said in her small voice.

Edward froze feeling warmth flow through him. He placed the prepared bowel onto the counter before him and turned around, bending to her height.

"What for?" he asked a little confused, but still smiling faintly. In all honesty he had really no idea, of course his mind had grown narrower over the past five years and he recalled not seeing as much as he used to.

"Evewy thing." She said and hugged him. He returned the hug and picked her up in her arms.

"Thank you." He said.

She was all he had to look foreword in life now, and he treasured her just that way. He decided he would stay home from work this day. After all, the boss was a senile old coot and at constant times he would fire Edward, but when Edward should up for work the next day anyways. The man would still pay him. He found it amusing.

Walking to the table with her bowel of cereal in one hand and her in his arm, he never felt so overjoyed for being a father, even if there were hardships to it in raising his daughter alone. He seated her in a chair where he placed the bowel on he table. He than turned back towards the counter and grabbed the pint carton of milk to bring to the table. There was always the possibility she might want more. Despite his dislike for the substance, he still had it in the house because his daughter loved it so much. He still could not place why though, maybe from her mother. The thought of her mother, his wife, upset him and he stayed quiet trying to get the thoughts out of his mind and sat at the table watching her eat. Moments passed before he finally spoke up and changed his thoughts, finding a more pleasant subject to think about.

"It's your Birthday soon."

She nodded vigorously forgetting about her food for the moment. An excited look appeared on her face as she looked up at him.

He chuckled at her reaction.

"Your going to be five than? Is there a special something you would like?"

Edward watched as she did the five counts on her fingers, showing him the five fingers representing five years. Now Edward knew why Hughes was always such a spazz when it came to his own daughter.

After the same nodding response, he watched his daughter screw up her face in a thoughtful expression and thought.

"Hmmmm…"

Edward waited patiently. Five years ago he would not have as much patience as he did now. It seemed that he had calmed down a lot and now saw his life through clearer eyes, even if it seemed a little narrow at times.

"A pocket watch!" she said aloud and eagerly. He jumped at the sudden out burst as he was deep in thought and looked at her quickly as what se said finally sunk into his thought process.

"R-Really?" he said hesitantly.

"Yeah!" she replied with no notice of his hesitation.

He nodded himself than smiled warmly at her.

"Alright." He replied and looked out the window. Snow fell from the sky as it had been for several months now. It would soon get colder he thought. As he stood up, he picked the slice of bread and egg off the counter and soon made himself his own breakfast. Finishing quickly he was approving of his own cooking more and more each day and was glad that he no longer burnt his food. He sat down and ate, and thought about the day ahead of him.

READ!!!!

Ok! Now that you've read this fanfiction. I need reviews telling me what to do.

The first question:

Who should be Edward's wife?

Choices: Rose, Noah, Winry, or some random character –FMA wise or not-

2nd: What is a suggestion for a name for the daughter? (If I don't get any answers to any of the questions, I'm going to leave it up to random forums or Xanga, and who knows what they pick. I'd rather have it up to you readers of more than anything.)

3rd: should this be based in Amestries sp? Or should it be placed in Germany?( in other words. FMA world or our qworld)

Also, should I even bother continuing? O.o that happens to occur to me a lot. Not even bothering to continue. Over all if you just like the story you can review too. There's nothing stopping you. The bottom is at the far left bottom of the screen in the little ok or go box. Just…click it… course if you need to sign in for it, screw it. That always pisses me off too; Unless you really want to review. Aye well thank you for reading. Ja ne.


	2. Chapter 2

:Unexpected Events:

Disclaimer: I do not own any anime trademarks for that matter… but I hope to some day!!

Seeing his daughter off to school for the day; Edward than walked towards the downtown shopping centers. His daughter had complained about going to school and even tried hiding in the house as resistance, but he knew she had to go. It would be good for her.

He passed his work seeing that once again the closed sign was up as he was not there to turn it. The old man who ran the shop would wonder why he received no costumers for the day. That thought aside Edward thought it was better just to check into work today as he reversed his steps, and entered the shop. The door rang as it usually did with the small brass bell that hung over the door way. A man who was looking at something on his counter looked up suddenly with a smile. Edward returned the smile and hung his coat up at a stand while flipping the 'closed' sign to 'open'.

"So Mr. Elric," the man said. "I see you've shown up for work today."

"That I have Thomas" Edward nodded.

Thomas shrugged.

"So are you to relieve me?" he asked hopefully. Edward really didn't want to work today, but since his daughter was now in school he saw that it could do no harm if he just worked a few days.

"Where's the boss?" He asked Thomas.

He replied to Edward by pointing to a sleeping man behind the counter, a bottle of whiskey hanging from his hand.

Edward sighed and gave in to Thomas's pleading look.

"Fine I'll work, but could you do me a favor in return?"

Thomas nodded eagerly.

"Could you pick up my daughter from school and bring her home?" He asked cringing knowing that he would get one of her looks again today.

"Sure, Sure Ed." Thomas said.

"Thanks Thomas"

"How many times do I gotta tell ya? You can call me Tom ya know?"

"Sure Tom, See ya." Edward said waving his hand and waking into the back to get an apron. He knew Tom had left when the ring of bells on the door sounded.

Edward sighed and walked back to the front desk seeing what Tom had been working on before. It was nothing interesting, just a jewelry box. Knowing that he was no good at fixing such things, he put the jewelry box away into its assigned drawer and took out the drawer labeled clocks and pocket watches. That was his specialty and he enjoyed learning about the gears in the small devices as well. He could not believe that such a small thing ran only by a twist of a knob or wind to the back to a clock. It fascinated him.

Picking one of the devices that looked partly bent he began to bend the metal back into its proper composition, careful not to block the soon to be rotating again, gears that made the clock function. Harder than it looked, he noticed as he tried to bend the hard aluminum. Finding the item not worth his while, he gave up and moved on to a different item picking up a fairly familiar pocket watch.

Blinking he noticed the image of a small creature, almost griffin or dragon like on it. It looked almost like the State Alchemist watches back in his old world. Sighing as his thoughts brought up harsh memories, he put the pocket watch down. He really could not work today, It was as if all his functioning abilities had gone.

The ring of a bell told him a customer had entered as he brought the drawer back to its respectful spot. He turned back to the counter to greet the customer.

"H-Hello." He greeted them.

The two people who stood in front of him looked around as if they were lost.

"Excuse me, but does Arlian work here?"

Arlian was the name of his boss. Nodding Edward responded.

"Yes, he's the manager here, is there any thing I can help you with?"

One of the men shifted uncomfortably and stormed his way to the back counter.

"Excuse me but what are you do…..ing…" Edward began but than stopped as he saw the barrel of a gun between his eyes.

"Ok boy were going to have a look around. You are not to call the police or anyone else, got it? And don't say anything about us being here and you'll be fine, got it?"

Edward nodded slowly showing he understood. The man continued to hold the gun to Edward's forehead.

What was going on? Has his boss gotten into something? A sudden fear took over him, one that he had never experienced before. 'What if he were to die here?' what about his daughter? What would she do? He found his only choice was to cooperate with the men.

The man who had gone into the back came back shaking his head.

"Nothing Sir." He said solemnly.

Edward blinked wondering what they had been searching for.

The man who held Edward at gun point spoke in return.

"Damn…" he sighed in mid speech, " well in that case we better come back when Arlian's here eh? Hey boy.." Edward knew the man to be referring to him.

"Yes?"

"You say anything about this and I guarantee we'll find you and you know what will happen when we find you got it?"

Edward nodded.

The men did a short nod on queue to each other and left the store. That same ring of the bell sounded once again as they left.

It seemed as if an hour had passed before it finally sunk in to Edward's mind what had happened. His boss was obviously something he wasn't he thought as he saw him still in his same spot with the bottle still hanging from his hand. It was a wonder why the men did not even see him here behind the counter. It almost made Edward laugh if he wasn't nervous about getting home. Looking at one of the fixed clocks it read 4:30pm.

It had been about 3 hours after his daughter had gone home.

Cursing that he was late at getting home he thought he better bring something to make it up to her. That's when the morning's conversation suddenly ran through his mind. "A pocket watch!" she wanted for her birthday. Her birthday was only a few hours away by technicalities and he figured an early present wouldn't hurt. Taking out the spare watch he worked on that had the emblem of the dragon or griffon like creature on it, he began to work to fix it.

Tom stared at a wall in his co workers house plainly bored. Why was he doing this favor he asked himself? Oh yes, he didn't want to work any more. Thinking about that he wondered why he had asked Edward to take his place for the day anyway. Was there some thing he was supposed to do but did not sub consciously know? He gave up thought as Edward's daughter jumped around in circles by him screaming at the top of her lungs.

"WHERE'S DADDY!! WHERE'S DADDY!!! WHERE'S DADDY!!" she screamed.

At this point Thomas found the agony of being at work more preferable. At least it was quieter than and he had less of a headache. Hearing a knock at Edward's front door Tom sighed in relief.

Standing up off the couch where he had been sitting before and trying to teach the girl a game of cards he walked over towards the door and opened it. He smiled as he saw Edward standing before him.

"She gave you hell, I'm assuming?"

Edward nearly laughed as he saw Thomas's hair ruffled and eyes look as if they had been plastered with agony and boredom for quite some time.

"Yes" he responded bluntly.

"That's just to show you that you better work than huh? But thanks anyway, I needed the pay for today. Just give me my keys and you can leave. Alright?"

Thomas nodded eagerly.

"Thanks Tom." Edward yelled after him as he ran out the door not wanting to be caught up in the girls banter.

Edward looked around finding it amusing for what his daughter did to Tom. Walking into the kitchen he nearly tripped as a child grabbed his back legs and clamping on tightly.

"Daddy!! Your home!! Why did you make that man pick me up? He was boring!!"

"I'm sorry honey." Edward said bending down to her height. "Daddy had work to do, and…he was held up in something."

She blinked at him with wide eyes than looked down sadly.

"You could have come and picked me up and brought me to your work."

He smiled sadly.

"No. I'm sorry I couldn't have."

The both were silent for a while than he remembered her birthday present and lit up.

"I got you something; an early birthday present."

"R-Really?!?!" she said excitedly as her expression lit up.

He nodded as he took out the small wrapped box out from inside his coat jacket.

"Yes, Here we are…" He handed her the small box.

She held the small box in her hands for a moment looking at it with both suspicion and curiosity. Its red ribbon caught her eye as she pulled a strand of it and let the knot undo itself.

Edward watched finding it an enjoyable experience to watch. He watched as she than opened the box lid and looked inside the small box, her face lighting up.

"DADDY!! THANK YOU!!" She said jumping at him. He barely had time to catch her as she pushed him backwards and off his feet.

She quickly got off him and took the pocket watch out of the box. Its smooth surface was polished to perfection and it ticked loudly when she held it to her ear.

"Oh Daddy!! Its perfect thank you!!!"

Edward smiled watching his daughter's joy.

"It's not everyday that you turn 5 now is it?"

She shook her head in reply smiling as she held the pocket watch in her hands and between her fingers.

Edward stood up leading his daughter to bed. She needed to get up early again for school the next day.

"Daddy?" she asked before he shut the door to her room.

"Yes?" he responded.

"Can we do something tomorrow?"

"Of course." Edward said with a smile.

She smiled in return and curled up in her bed, the pocket watch grasped in her hand.

"Good night daddy…"She mumbled.

"Good Night and Happy Birthday…Maylee."

((HA!! Complete with a chapter!! Thank you to Numdenu!! It really helped me!! I hope you enjoy the story thus so far!!

Also thank you to all my other reviewers. All those who haven't reviewed yet please Review! Even if you have already though. I would appreciate it if you review again. Thank You!!

Ja ne.


	3. Chapter 3

Concern in Wealth

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, in fact the anime and manga has gotten old and is now not my main obsession (**D Gray Man** ROCKS!!) But I still love to write these stories anyway. The characters are so well developed. -

……………………..

Tiring as it was Edward still woke up at that same time every night. He supposed that he should go see a doctor for his anxiety, but he didn't much like doctors, and he refused to go. Groggily making his way to the kitchen, he glanced at the paper work of selected bills and such that lay on the table. Sighing he knew he would have to finish them soon..

Walking to the small cupboard, he took out a coffee cup and started the stove. It came to life with a slight pop and brought to life a kettle that began to whistle softly. Than he traveled back towards the kitchen table he had walked by and sat down with a pen in hand. He put a small pair of reading glasses on and continued with his paperwork. A lot of the envelopes and papers were bills; electricity bills, water bills, gas bills, montage taxes, and more and more taxes and bills. Checking his calculations he sighed, letting his face sink into his hands. He was in debt again, at this rate he would have to move farther away from work and his Maylee's new school.

Thinking of alternatives, he realized that he had no choice but to stop by his work today and collect his pay for his work the previous day.

The sound of the boiling kettle snapped him back to reality. Quickly he stood up and hurried towards the stove to lift the kettle up and away from the flame. What Edward did not anticipate was how hot the kettle would be and screamed out as he, without thinking, lifted the kettle up and instinctively burnt his hand. Letting go of the kettle with his scorched hand he heard its loud clatter and instantly began massaging his hand with his well disguised prosthetic hand. The kettle spilled hot water all over the linoleum floor. Suddenly all went silent as he stared in place at the steaming water and continuing to massage his burnt hand.

After some time of starring out aimlessly, he heard footsteps coming from the next room, and quickly picked up the kettle, which had cooled down by now, and placed it on the counter.

"Daddy, what's the matter?" A small voice peeped.

Edward turned to see his daughter peeking around the door frame.

"Nothing, Nothing, I just dropped the kettle." Edward responded sounding hurried.

He did not want her to see the paperwork on the kitchen table that he was previously working on. He knew she was smart enough to understand such words that were printed on the paper, and was way above her level with reading. He was nervous of her being near the table and quickly began to descend towards the table.

Hurrying, Edward forgot about the spilt water on the floor. It did not take long for him to lose his footing as he found himself falling backwards. His land was not the smoothest as he cursed loudly.

Maylee watched from the entrance of the kitchen, concern forming in her eyes. Knowing that his daughter would be concerned over him without even seeing, Edward hid his pain in his lower back and slowly lifted himself up. He smiled and laughed to reassure her that he was fine. His back was darkened from being wet, and judging by how much water was left on the floor, he must have mopped it up with his shirt back. Maylee seeing her father's smile, giggled slightly, all concern washed away from her face.

Edward leaned on the counter for a moment trying to get air from the wind knocked out of him by the fall. He succeeded but only narrowly; his mind swam. He than remembered why he had hurried so carelessly as he had. Avoiding the little water left on the linoleum floor, he swiftly walked towards the table and gathered his paper work into a pile and holding it to his chest. He smiled at Maylee who watched him with a simple expression and moved past her and quickly into his room, shutting the door behind him without a word.

Maylee's simple expression fell as she stared at the wood floor under her feet. She knew her father hid things from her and her premonitions of what they were, almost seventy-five percent of the time were correct. Her father always told her that she was a lot like her mother, were these premonitions apart of it? She would never know. As far as she knew, her mother was gone.

Rubbing her blue eyes, she headed into the kitchen and grabbed a towel off of the counter, and began whipping the floor dry. When she was finished she felt satisfied in seeing the floor moderately cleaner. She didn't want her father to get hurt again; she knew he faked his smile to reassure her not to worry and that nothing was in the least bit wrong.

She wondered to the fridge and opened the door looking inside. Finding her favorite, she easily pulled the carton of milk out of the fridge door. He father always kept the milk down low enough for her to reach. She placed the jug of milk on the counter and took a clean cup from the nearby sink. With care she filled the cup full of milk and sipped at the rim to keep it from spilling while she walked to the table with it. As she sat at the table drinking quietly her thoughts traveled at what the day ahead of her would be like. She hoped it would be a fun day as she drank deeply.

((A/N:))

Well that's the next chapter. I did have practically another page written up to type in for this chapter, but I was too lazy to include it. I will the next chapter and it will probably be better organized that way. Well until next time, please remember to Review!!!

!!FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST UPDATE!!

Manga 12 is on sale at your nearby book store now!! Be sure to get it and check it out, especially if your one of those scary pro Ed X Win Fans.

The only reason I write them as a couple is for media crave and I don't really see Ed as a homo.

Sorry, it's just hard for me to grasp.

Mustang on the other hand I can see. Sorry Roy Fans HAHA!! –runs from them as they try to assassinate me-

ROY FAN GIRLS:: I SHALL KILL YOU AUTHORESS!!! GRRRRRRRRR LEAVE MY ROY ALONE!!!

:/A/: -.- …. ---that's my friend Emily. She's Pro Roy.

By the way I will put in news about FMA whenever I write a chapter now, so be sure to check em' out. AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!


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